There is a definite need for security within the cannabis industry. According to the video, dispensaries can make up to $300,000 in a month. That’s an extraordinary amount of cash that has made transportation of funds unsafe. Cannabis is a cash-only and shockingly, there has been no form of security provided to dispensaries for transporting large sums of money, until now.
Metropolitan Protective Services (MPS) is a Denver based company that provides security services to marijuana businesses. MPS quickly understood the need for protective services and became the first company to provide armored transportation to marijuana businesses in Colorado.
Most employees within the company have worked for law enforcement. Mike Roberts, Director of Operations for MPS, comments on the irony of dealing with marijuana related criminals in the past and his current employment of protecting people within the cannabis industry. He states that “it was a very unusual dynamic moving from [coming in contact with people] who used and smoked marijuana to now defending the people that we deal with.” MPS employees are trained like any other security transportation members to look for any type of shady activity that may lead to a possible robbery or attack.
MPS also provides safe storage within their facility. The video states that Colorado does over $100 million yearly in business that banks will not accept. However, Washington is making a change. Because the marijuana industry within the state is slowly becoming economically stable, banks are now accepting cash from pot growers. This change could help the economic growth within Washington similarly to how Colorado has benefitted from recent monetary development within the cannabis industry.
